Andrew McCutchen's position change didn't happen by accident.
The process that ended with a full-scale realignment of the Pirates outfield _ Starling Marte in center, Gregory Polanco in left and McCutchen in right _ began at the end of the 2016 season, manager Clint Hurdle told 93.7 The Fan on Thursday.
"He still believes he can play center field and I do, too. There were times last year where he played the best center field I've seen him play in six years," Hurdle said. "At the end of the day, we wouldn't be having this conversation if it wasn't for having Starling Marte."
That shouldn't surprise anyone; a combination of McCutchen's own possible decline and an ill-fated front-office decision to move him shallower in the field led to a league-worst minus-28 defensive runs saved. Given Marte's presence, it'd have been irresponsible not to make at least some change _ regardless of the flashes Hurdle may have seen from McCutchen.
McCutchen, Hurdle told Joe Starkey and Chris Mueller, is totally on board. They started talking about the switch in the summer, and it ended with McCutchen signing off in an "engaged, respectful, professional" way.
"Throughout the process Andrew has been completely selfless," Hurdle said.
Polanco is the biggest variable here; if he continues to improve _ as in, doesn't have his own penchant for questionable routes and over-reliance on raw ability utterly exposed in left _ everything will work out.
And even if Polanco remains a work in process, subbing Marte for McCutchen (and having McCutchen fully buy in) will be enough of a win overall to make the move worth it; it was one of the few obvious internal improvements, along with giving more at-bats to Josh Bell, that the Pirates could've made.
McCutchen, 30, is coming off the worst season of his career (.256/.336/.430) and, as you may have heard, was on the trading block in the offseason. With one year and one club option left on his contract, the questions about his future are not going to stop. Hurdle says that through it all, he's in "a very good place."
That, combined with McCutchen's post-switch tweet of a photo of Roberto Clemente, helps sell the move from a public relations standpoint.
"He's a sharp guy. He's a very thick-skinned man. He's a very competitive man. He's also a man that has a lot of confidence. ... The one thing about life, about sport, that you can count on is change. Sometimes it happens when you're ready. Sometimes it happens when you may not be ready. Sometimes you need to look at a bigger picture with things," Hurdle said.
"This man's got a ton of faith also, and he believes, in conversation with him, that most of the experiences he had going through last year will make him stronger and (a) better player moving forward, and I believe that also."
That alone isn't going to be enough to get the Pirates back in a playoff race. It's also a decent, necessary place to start.
